Stay Lost
by SweetDragonSeeker
Summary: Five times Ace gave Alice his coat, and one time she gave it back.


**Soooo...I still don't own Alice. **

**Yeah. So this is what happens when I look at game screenshots when I'm tired and then start writing fanfiction. _It's over 1000- 2000- even 3000 words! Hurray!_ I think that's a record for me lately. **

**SSS**

_*The first time, they were lost. Again.*_

"Ace, we've been walking forever, and I don't see the castle anywhere." Alice complained resignedly, slogging along in Ace's wake as he continued to trek jauntily through the forest, shoving tree branches aside and whistling cheerily.

"I'm sure it's around here somewhere." He responded confidently, clambering over a fallen tree with ease and turning to look at her with a grin on his face.

"And I'm sure it's not." She protested, grabbing a branch and hoisting herself up onto the log. "I'm sure it's the other way."

"Nah." He reached up, catching her by the waist, and swung her down just as the sky went from day to night, and she yelped, hands catching on his chest as her feet hit the ground again and she stumbled forward. "Oops, careful there." she could hear his grin, even if she couldn't see it.

Alice glowered and pushed away from him, only to find his hands still wrapped around her waist. "Let go of me, Ace." She told him, pushing against his chest, and he laughed, thumbs sweeping over her hipbones, before releasing her and turning away abruptly, hand digging in the pockets of his red coat for a handful of tent stakes.

"Guess we're camping again!" he declared, moving between two trees as a stray beam of moonlight splashed across his hair and face. Alice resisted the urge to groan.

By the time they managed to set up the tent, Alice was shivering and exhausted, too tired to bother with a fire when Ace suggested one. Leaving him to it, she crawled into the tent instead, huddling on one of the bed roles with her back to the entrance, head pillowed on her arms. She was almost asleep when a warm weight settled over her, and she opened her eyes, glancing up just as Ace finished draping his coat over her, the heat of his body still clinging to the fabric.

"Thank-" Alice broke off mid-sentence as Ace lowered himself onto the bed role at her side and wrapped his arms around her, tugging her tightly against him. "Ace! Let go!" she squeaked, cheeks red as his coat as she wiggled in his grip. He laughed easily, cuddling her closer, and nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck.

"You're cold, Alice," he commented, nose tracing a line up the side of her neck from her shoulder to her ear. She closed her eyes; he wasn't helping with her shivering.

"Ace," she groaned, and turned her head away as he pressed a kiss to her pulse, lips warm and lingering against her skin. "Just…go to sleep, alright?"

He chuckled darkly, nipping at her ear.

"Aw, you don't want me to warm you up?"

"N-no." she whispered shakily. Then she pulled herself together, fighting off the butterflies that were fluttering through her belly at his teasing, and pulled back, ducking her head under his chin. "No." she repeated. "Go to sleep, Ace."

He chuckled again, but complied, wrapping his arms- and his coat- just a little tighter around her and resting his chin on top of her head, against her hair. She hid her face in the collar of his jacket, and breathed a sigh.

_*The second time, they "fell" in a river.* _

Alice had decided that she hated bears. Or Ace. Or both. Whichever was the cause of her being once more stuck high in a tree with the Knight of Hearts while an angry brown mass paced below, grunting and swiping claw marks into the tree bark. She sighed, leaning back against the trunk, and withdrew the book she'd tucked into her apron that morning; she'd been reading it when Ace had dragged her off, and hadn't- thankfully- had time to put it down. At least now she had something to do for as long as the bear had them trapped.

Farther down the branch, Ace swung his legs back and forth, rocking the whole tree as he waved and called endearments and taunts down at the creature below.

"Stop that." Alice grumbled from behind her book, and glowered around it at the Knave. "You're going to make us fall."

Ace laughed, glancing back down at the bear, then at the river coursing past on the opposite side of the trunk.

"You're right." He told her agreeably, standing up on the branch, arms outstretched for balance, "looks like we are gonna fall." He laughed, and Alice paled, eyes flicking downward. Apparently, the bear had just remembered that bears could climb. Alice's eyes widened and she shrieked, book clutched in one hand as she scrambled to her feet as fast as she safely could, clinging to the trunk with her free hand as she stared at the approaching beast.

"What are we going to do?" she demanded, as Ace crouched easily beside her on the branch, grinning and waving at the bear as it shimmied up.

"It just wants to play," he assured, and Alice thwacked the side of his head with the book.

"I don't want to play with it, Ace! It could kill us."

"That's half the fun." Ace grinned up at her, not having even noticed being hit, then stood up again, bracing himself with a hand against the tree-trunk on either side of her. "But if you insist." He ducked down, wrapping his arms around her waist, and threw her over his shoulder just as the bear reached the branch right below them.

"What are you doing you-" Alice didn't get to finish the sentence, as it turned into a exclamation of alarm as Ace leapt off the branch, the two of them tumbling through empty space as the bear growled behind them.

They hit the cold water hard, the fast-running current catching them almost at once and slinging them downstream like a pair of leaves, and for once Alice was grateful for Ace's arms around her waist; at least they couldn't get separated. She had read enough books to know that there should be a deadly waterfall drop up ahead somewhere, but before they reached it Ace managed to catch onto a tangle of viney roots sticking out of the bank where a portion of the ground had been washed away by the rushing water, and tossed her up onto the bank.

She collapsed on the grass, spluttering and coughing up water as Ace pulled himself up beside her, crawling up the slope until he could flop on his stomach at his side, grinning ear-to-ear, as though nearly drowning was great fun. Alice pushed herself up onto her knees, wringing out her hair, and Ace rolled onto his back and sat up, leaning back on his hands.

"There. We got away from the bear." He chortled, then glanced at her, eyes twinkling. "You look like a drowned cat." He chuckled, and she scowled at him, silently mourning the loss of her book, which she'd dropped when he jumped, as she stood and tried to wring out as much of her skirt as possible. Ace leaned forward and shook his head violently, shaking water droplets in every direction, and she took a hurried step away.

"Hey!"

"Well, let's go." The Knight announced, rising fluidly to his feet and linking his hands behind his head. "Castle's this way." He turned toward the Clock Tower. Alice grumbled.

"The Castle is behind you, Ace." She told him shortly, shaking her skirt and turning away. "And I'm not going there. I'm going back to the Tower."

Ace draped his coat around her shoulders.

"Cool. I'll go with you. I need to see Julius anyway."

Alice sighed, wrapped his coat tighter around herself to block the wind, and started walking.

Julius looked up from his work when Alice, glowering, still dripping and wrapped in Ace's red coat, its hem trailing on the ground, stomped into his workroom with Ace grinning brightly, on her heels.

He raised a brow, but Alice just walked right past to dig through a trunk for dry clothes.

"Don't ask."

_*The third time, she needed comfort*_

Alice was crying. Ace stopped in the doorway of her borrowed bedroom in Heart Castle, tilting his head as she sobbed into her arms, curled up on the window seat with her knees against her chest. He considered just leaving- he wasn't the best at dealing with crying people- but his curiosity got the better of him.

"Hey Alice. What's the matter?" he queried, stepping into the room, his jacket swishing back and forth where it was draped over his arm.

Alice lifted her head to look at him with red, teary eyes and mumbled blearily,

"Y-you should kn-knock before you e-enter a room."

"I thought it was my room." He grinned, plopping down on the opposite end of the seat and staring at her. "So? Why're you crying?"

Alice shook her head, dropping it back down.

"I'm j-just being s-stupid." She muttered into her arms. "I h-had a dream, and n-now I can't s-stop crying." She hiccupped, and shook her head without lifting it. "I c-can't even remember wh-what I was dreaming a-about."

Ace shrugged, leaning back against the window casement.

"Well, if you can't remember, then forget about it." he advised, his attitude as close to 'sagely' as he ever got. "Let yourself be lost." He leaned forward and put his forehead against the top of her head, gazing down at her through a gap in her arms. "I do."

He was so serious and yet so puppy-like at the same time as he peered down at her, that Alice couldn't help but giggle, though her eyes were still teary.

"I can't stay lost forever, Ace." She told him, raising her head and wiping her eyes, and he snorted, drawing back.

"Sure you can." He pulled his coat out of his lap and put it around her shoulders, using the sleeves to pull her closer to him, until her knees brushed his. "Stay lost with me."

She shook her head, sniffing, and he reached out, cupping her chin and tilting her head up to face him. "It's no fun being lost alone, Alice." He told her, still smiling slightly. "We can keep each other company."

She smiled weakly in return, reaching out and brushing a finger against the sleeve of his black shirt.

"Being lost scares me. I don't like not knowing where to go."

His thumb swept loosely over her chin, brushing her bottom lip.

"I like it when you're lost though, Alice. And as long as you're with me, we can always find a place to camp." His eyes twinkled darkly, and he rose, fingers brushing along her cheek as he stood and turned away. "Guess I better find my room, haha." He laughed, strolling toward the door. For a moment, she just watched him go, before realizing-

"Ace! You left your coat!" she started to scramble off the window seat, but he turned in the doorway, throwing a careless grin over his shoulder.

"I'll come get it later. I'm not gonna sleep in it anyway." He winked, and then he was gone, leaving her standing in the middle of the room. She shook her head, moving to follow him, but by the time she reached the door, he was gone. It didn't make sense to follow him; he'd said he was going to his room, but knowing him he could be anywhere. So she closed the door and returned to the window, slipping her arms into his sleeves as she went.

_*The fourth time, they had company.* _

"Ace, someone could come in!" Alice gasped, backing away from him as he followed her across the workroom with a smirk on his face. "Just because Julius is gone doesn't mean no one will come by with work for him!" the backs of her knees hit the desk and she stopped, frowning at the Knight as he continued to stroll leisurely across the room toward her, draping his red coat over a chair as he went.

"I'll hear 'em before they can come in," he told her with a grin, and placed a hand on the desk on either side of her hips, bending slightly so that their eyes were almost on the same level. "No one will see." He promised, and lowered his head, brushing his lips along her jaw. She shivered, eyes fluttering shut, and felt more than heard him chuckle before his lips covered her own, hungry and insistent. Her fingers clutched at the edge of the desk to keep herself upright as she returned the kiss, trying to match his enthusiasm. His hands moved too, one to tug at the ribbons at the small of her back, the other to her head, cradling it in his palm and tilting her head to deepen the kiss.

The next few moments were a heated blur, a heady mixture of long kisses and burning caresses and soft sounds, Ace's hands and mouth sliding over her skin, and then suddenly he jerked away, breath coming in heavy pants and the buttons his shirt undone as he reached for his coat, jerking it off the chair where he'd left it and wrapping it around Alice, whose dress was unbuttoned most of the way, almost sliding off her shoulders, and whose apron was currently lying beneath the desk where he'd accidently kicked it.

"Ace?" she asked nervously, clutching his coat around herself and looking up at him. "What's-"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest, leaning down to whisper.

"I promised." He told her seriously, his lips just brushing the top of her ear. "And a Knight should keep his promises, right?"

A split second later, a couple entered the room, having grown tired of standing outside after their single hesitant knock, the woman clutching a clock in her hands. Ace spun around, still holding Alice to him with one arm. The woman looked the two of them over, eyes pausing on Ace's open shirtfront, but didn't comment.

"Is the Clockmaker here?" the man demanded, and Ace grinned brightly. Alice, who had blushed scarlet at the Faceless woman's stare, hid her face in his side as subtly as possible.

"He's gone to town." Ace told the couple cheerfully. "But he'll be back soon. You can just leave the clock in the box." He gestured to the box on the edge of Julius' desk filled with clocks set in neat rows. "He'll get to it when he gets back.

"Thank you." The woman said stiffly, and placed the clock in an empty slot. Then, with one more wary, disapproving glance at Ace and Alice, she and the man left, closing the door behind them with a snap. Alice breathed a sigh of relief, and found Ace's fingers under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him.

"It was rude of them to interrupt." He commented lightly, eyes twinkling, and lowered his mouth back to hers.

_*The fifth time, he was bleeding.*_

Alice was making her way from Hatter Mansion to visit the Tower when a commotion exploded from the bushes to her left, the sound of a gun followed by a grunt of pain, and a second later, the body of a faceless man was flung out of the bushes to land on the path before her, blood seeping from a deep slash in his chest. Then a golden light flashed, and there was nothing but a clock lying in the dust. Alice stumbled back, staring wide-eyed at the clock, just as Ace tramped out of the same bunch of bushes the man had come from, his shirt torn beneath his coat to reveal bloodied scratches.

"A-ace?" Alice gasped, and Ace glanced up with a grin.

"Oh, hey, Alice!" he greeted, traipsing out onto the path and reaching down to retrieve the clock, shoving it into the bag of clocks at his hip. "I didn't mean to do that." He told her ruefully, running his fingers through his hair. "Ah well." He turned back to her, smile once more firmly in place. "So where're you going, Alice?"

"You're bleeding." She told him, ignoring his question and moving forward to peer at his scratches. "Did he hit you?" she'd never heard of anyone actually landing a blow on Ace before, except maybe Gray.

"Nah." Ace glanced down at himself, tugging at his shirt to get a better look at the scratches. "I fell into a thorn bush earlier." He chuckled to himself. Alice rolled her eyes.

"You need to be more careful, Ace." She muttered under her breath and grabbed him by the sleeve, dragging him with her in the direction of the tower. Ace laughed.

"You're direct today, Alice." He teased, and she growled at him.

"We need to treat those cuts."

"They'll heal. You're getting as bad as Mr. Lizard." The Knight complained mockingly, but followed willingly in her wake, humming tunelessly as she led him into the Tower and up the stairs.

"Coat off," She told him the moment they'd passed through the doorway into Julius' workroom. Ace laughed, shrugging off his coat, as Julius looked up from his desk with an irritated expression marring his features.

"Jeez, Alice, making me undress in front of Julius isn't very proper," The Knave snickered, following her across the room and dropping his coat over her head as she rummaged through a cabinet for first aid materials. Julius sighed and returned to his work.

"Ace!" Alice was blushing to the roots of her hair at his comment, but tried to ignore it, shoving his coat back off of her head as she pulled a bottle of salve out of the back of the cabinet. "Don't make jokes like that." She admonished, and then her face turned even redder, rivaling the coat that was now caught on one of her shoulders. "Shirt too, though."

Ace laughed, eyes dancing at the look on her face as he pulled his shirt over his head, and Julius made another irritated sound over his clockwork.

"Can't you two irritate each other somewhere else?" he muttered, as Ace dropped his shirt on the floor and moved to sit on the edge of the desk. Julius hissed, moving several cogs out of the way.

"The company's good for you, Julius." Ace assured him, watching Alice smear salve on his scratches with a focused expression on her face, though her cheeks were still a bit red. He glanced over his shoulder at the surly Clockmaker, and smirked. "You know you love us."

Julius grunted and ignored him.

"There." Alice drew back, placing a cap on the salve. "That's better."

"Thanks, Alice." Ace slid off the desk, landing too close to the Outsider for her comfort, causing her to blush again, and smirked some more.

_*The sixth time was different.* _

Alice was dreaming. She was almost sure of it, though considering she stood in the garden outside of Heart Castle with the stars twinkling overhead and the smell of roses filling the air, it was hard to be sure. She was standing in the entrance to the Castle's hedge maze, practically swimming in Ace's long red coat. Behind her she could hear the distant trickling of fountains.

Glancing down at her hand, Alice found her vial resting in her palm, filled almost to the cap with glinting medicine of the heart. She tilted her hand, and watched it shift minutely in the little remaining space in the vial, bubbles rising to the surface and bursting. She could go home.

"Nightma-" she began, but was interrupted by someone calling her name.

"Alice?" the voice hollered, as though from far away, and she glanced up; it wasn't Nightmare's voice.

"…Ace?" she asked. There was no response. She glanced back down at the bottle, and suddenly arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind. She gasped.

"Stay lost, Alice." Ace whispered in her ear. Alice turned her head, trying to look at him, but she couldn't quite see him. "I like it when you're lost."

His hand moved down her arm, reaching for hers, and he folded her fingers closed over the vial, covering her hand with his as though to hide it. "Just let yourself forget."

"I-"

"Come on. Come with me." His arm dropped from around her shoulders, and he felt her pulling her by her hand back toward the maze, though she still couldn't quite make him out in the dark.

"Where-"

She woke up, staring up at the ceiling of the tent as Ace crouched beside her, nose inches from hers. She jumped.

"Ace! Don't scare me like that!"

He laughed, and sat back on his heels.

"It's daytime again! C'mon, let's go! I'm sure we can find the Castle today." His hand caught the edge of his coat, which she suddenly realized she was using as a blanket, and tugged on it. "You sleep really deeply, Alice." He added cheerfully. "It took me forever to wake you up."

"Well, I'm awake now." Alice mumbled, sitting up, and brushed some of her hair out of her face. She glanced back over at Ace with a sigh, and gestured to the mound of scarlet fabric wrapped around her. "You can have your coat back."

He grinned and took the coat, swinging it around his shoulders, before grabbing her hand and standing up, pulling her to her feet with him.

"Thanks. Now we can get the tent packed up. I'll bet it'll take less than ten time periods to get to the Castle if we hurry." His smile was ear-to-ear as he said it, and Alice found herself returning the smile, hers slightly resigned.

"How about I lead the way, and we get there in three?"

Ace chuckled, slipping his arms into his jacket sleeves.

"Aw, c'mon now Alice; where's the fun in that?"


End file.
